Ukraine’s new police is radically different from their predecessors and this is why..

A year ago, July 4, the first national police officers appeared in Kyiv, giving a start to the Ukrainian police reform. This process began with the launch of patrol police, however, at that time, even without a special law. The relevant legal act was issued a month later, and 4thof August became an official Day of National Police of Ukraine.

Today, patrol police, as a separate department, is part of the National Police. Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Zhukov, who participated in liberation of the Donetsk airport, heads it.

January 19, 2015 the First Deputy Interior Minister Eka Zguladze announced about the police reforms. The first step was the reorganization of the State Traffic Police. All the "traffic cops" were fired, and along with all the other contesters, they could become applicants for the new patrol police. American instructors were invited to train the future policemen.

A mass euphoria embraced Kyiv; polite young law enforcers in new uniforms were completely different from those previous corrupted police officers. Selfie with a cop became a fancy trend in Ukrainian social media.

In late August, the new patrol police appeared in Lviv and Odesa, and then in Kharkiv. October 9, the first crews started to patrol the Kyiv-Zhytomyr route.

During the last year, 32 cities and 3 regions have received the new patrol units. At the moment, 13 thousand people operate in the structures of the police patrol, 20% of them are women.

The first major test for the new police system was the death of 17-year-old passenger of the BMW, who was shot dead by one of the capital's cop. Despite repeated demands to stop the car, the driver was trying to escape, even though his car was blocked by the police. Law enforcers started to shell BMW, and one of the bullets killed the boy.

Another resonant incident occurred on April 19 near "Dorohozhychi" metro station. The police crew knocked down the woman who later died in a hospital.

In February this year, National Police announced about firing of 98 of its employees.

Despite the unfortunate incidents, Ukraine’s new police are radically different from their predecessors. For example, the new police officers appear at the spot five times faster than the previous police did.

The patrol police have proved that they do not pay attention to the status of the violator. A vivid example was detention of the convoy of the UEFA League vice president Hryhoriy Surkis.